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Iraqi trade unionism under threat

TUC statement

23 February 2008

TUC condemns attempt to kill Iraqi journalists' leader

The TUC has joined Iraqi unions and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) in condemning the attempt to assassinate the President of the Iraqi Union of Journalists in Baghdad this morning (Saturday).

Shihab Al-Timimi, 75, is in hospital in critical but stable condition after he suffered three bullet wounds in the stomach, shoulder and face when his car was attacked following a meeting of the union leadership in the Al Wazeiriyah district in the centre of the city. Al-Tamimi's son Rabei was also in the car and was slightly injured in the attack.

TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said:

'This latest attack upon Iraqi trade unionists is a reminder that the main force for a secular, democratic and non-sectarian Iraq - the trade union movement - is under threat. Meanwhile, the Iraqi government continues to persecute trade unionists when it should be protecting and supporting them.'

A delegation of Iraqi transport union representatives has been in the UK this week, funded by the TUC and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and on Monday they briefed FCO Minister Kim Howells MP and the TUC General Secretary on the Iraqi Government's attacks on trade union freedom and refusal to replace Saddam Hussein's repressive trade union laws with ILO-compliant legislation.

Further details of the attack are on the IFJ website at http://www.ifj.org/default.asp?Index=5863&Language=EN

Briefing document (300 words) issued 23 Feb 2008